For the joy set before Him (John 17:1-26)

In John 17, Jesus gives us His High Priestly Prayer, praying first that He would bring glory to the Father and that the Father would return Him to the glory that He had before the world began. Second, Jesus prays for His disciples, their mission and their unity that they would be one. And finally, Jesus prays for all of those who would come to believe the message that the disciples would take out into the world, that is us. We get a very clear picture on how we can pray and how much reverence Jesus had towards His Father. We also see one of the most interesting elements of this prayer, and that is that Jesus speaks in future tense. He speaks as though His mission is already accomplished, Him looking forward to the joy set before Him. He also is seeking first the kingdom of God, setting His mind and His heart on the glory to come. And this is what we also can learn, that we shouldn't be worried about all the problems right in front of us, but look past them just like Jesus looked past the cross to the glory to come and for us it is the glory that is being with Jesus in heaven once this life is done.